Posted - 02/12/2012 : 10:17:40 So, if i'm not mistaken, Carey Price is a FA at the end of the year. Yes, he's a RFA, but it's still a task in front of the Habs to get this guy locked up long term. He's coming off a deal that was paying him 3 million in the final year and is obviously due a big raise! He's considered by some, to be the best goalie in the game. That may not be everyones opinion, but it's hard to argue he's not in the top 5 at the very least and he's also still young and has a lot of hockey left ahead of him. There was a rumour floating around in Jan that the Habs were offering him a contract like Rinne got, 7 years 49 mil (7 mil per year) but that he countered with 10 years 70mil (7 mil per year). I'm not sure if that was every verified as being true and i somewhat doubt it as it was not really reported much at the time.

So, i wonder, how happy is he in Montreal? I've never heard much about him disliking it there, even a few years back when he was struggling and getting booed. But, now that it's contract time, does he think back to then? Did it or does it bother him at all? Does he like the direction the team is going? Is he mad they haven't started a rebuild and if they look to do so in the future, would he want to be a part of it? These are just a few of the questions he's gonna be asking himself as they try to work out a deal.

So, the whole point of this post is this. Do you think there's a chance that a team would take a run at him with an offer sheet? If you got a team who was comfortable enough with their place in the standings and had a lot of prospects, would they give up those picks for a franchise goalie? I know offer sheets are few and far between, but so are goalies like Carey Price!

10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First)

Guest0856

Posted - 02/14/2012 : 08:12:58 Well every indications points towards Gomez being the Canadians "amnesty" act. Thus being able to take him off the books (still having to pay him of course) and not having his ridiculous salary affect their cap. If this is true, they'll have plenty to sign Price and the other UFA's and RFA's.

Alex116

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 19:51:58 nuxfan.... A simple diffence in opinion then i guess? I guess Montreal has been a little more defensive perhaps, but they sure don't have the talented D that Rinne stares out at night after night!

As far as Montreal is concerned moving forward, I think Kostitsyn is gone in the next couple weeks. His contract will be off the books either way as i don't see them bringing him back. Now, i don't profess to be a Canadiens expert or anything, but that's my hunch. I get the same hunch with Moen.

Guys like Emelin and Darche will likely get min raises that won't hurt the Habs too much. Luckily for the Habs, Subban isn't exactly having the breakout year that many expected. While he'll get a raise, i don't think it will be one that will kill the cap for them. Same with Eller, he'll get a bit more, but nothing that will break the bank! What i'm getting at is that if Price wants to remain a Hab, i think they'll be able to get him in under the cap, Gomez or no Gomez! Saddest part of that contract, is that there's still 2 more years on it. I think they could withstand 1 more, but 2??? Yikes.

I just can't see the Habs letting Price walk and only getting 2 first rounders, a 2nd and a 3rd? Wouldn't pretty much any team not in the bottom 5 be willing to give that much up for him today???

nuxfan

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 16:53:39 it is impossible to gauge a shot count, but there is not much else to go on. Based on what I see from Rinne 4 times a year and over a 6 game playoff series last year, he keeps NSH in games more often than not, and faces his fair share of difficult shots - and it shows, with NSH once again in the thick of a playoff hunt despite scoring only 10 goals more than they've allowed. Meanwhile in MTL, different story.

The other thing working against MTL for next season is cap space. Looking at capgeek, MTL has 18M in cap space to sign 9 players. Lets also say that they buy out Gomez - that would leave them with 21M in cap space to sign 10 players. Normally manageable, however their RFA list includes:

- Price- Subban- Eller- Emelin

As well as UFA's Darche, Campoli and Kostitsyn (I'm assuming they'll let go of Gill). That is a pretty significant list - to have Price consume 7M of that space and still fit the rest of them, and add another 6 players to fill the gaps would be difficult. It looks like its going to be an interesting summer in Montreal.

Alex116

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 16:39:53 Fair enough, but it's also impossible to tell the quality of shots. I have no proof to this, but it's possible Nashville gives up more shots from the outside and Montreal more breakaways (i'm just making this up as an example of course, as it could be the other way around for all i know). All i'm saying is that Nashville is known, and has been known for a while as a boring, defensive team to play against.

If i'm Montreal, i don't hesitate to give him one of either 5 years at 7, or 8 years at a more friendly cap rate, say something around 6 or less.

I still say, if i were starting an expansion team today and could pick ANY goalie, he'd be #1 on my list taking into consideration, age, skill, potential, etc.....

nuxfan

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 16:21:08

quote:Originally posted by Alex116

nuxfan....I'm more with Slozo on this. Lundqvist is the only one i'd rank ahead of Price, but he also turns 30 in a few weeks (Price turns just 25 in Aug). If you're looking for a goalie for the future, Price is your guy IMO. Rinne is also 29 and has played in a defensive minded system with guys like Weber, Suter, etc in front of him. Not taking anything away from him, but he's def been on more defensive teams than Price has.

Has he?

Over his career, Price has averaged 29.7 SA per game, while Rinne is just behind at 28.4. Over the last 2 seasons (when both have been the undisputed starters for their respective teams), Rinne has faced 30 SA per game to Price's 29.

That hardly indicates that NSH is a "more defensive team", they seem to give up as much as the others.

FWIW - I don't think that Rinne is worth a 7M cap hit per season either. It is very difficult to build a legitimate contender if you're committing 8M to goaltending alone (your 7M starter and another 1M for your backup) in the cap era.

Alex116

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 15:49:45 Thanks for that Mandree.....

So, if i'm reading that correctly, a team can offer Price between $6,268,176 to $7,835,219 and only have to surrender 2 first round picks, 1 second and a third? IF that's the case, i have to think that Montreal better hurry up and sign this guy cuz if i were a GM out there in need of a good goaltender, i'd be willing to pay in that range for Price for sure. Prob not above 7, but right around that amount!

nuxfan....I'm more with Slozo on this. Lundqvist is the only one i'd rank ahead of Price, but he also turns 30 in a few weeks (Price turns just 25 in Aug). If you're looking for a goalie for the future, Price is your guy IMO. Rinne is also 29 and has played in a defensive minded system with guys like Weber, Suter, etc in front of him. Not taking anything away from him, but he's def been on more defensive teams than Price has. Howard? Forget it. I don't care what his numbers are. He's the modern day version of Osgood and prob will never get the credit he deserves. Regardless of that, i don't even have him in my top 10 for goalies!

nuxfan

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 09:10:18 As the wikipedia article says, the number of draft picks you have to give up depends on the amount of the offer sheet. If you're thinking that someone is going to make a 6M average salary offer sheet for Price, its gonna be 1 first, 1 second, and 1 third rounder to take Price.

I personally don't put Price as the #2 goaltender in the NHL right now, and question whether or not he's worth 7M a season, and whether or not MTL would want to spend 7M for a starting goalie. If I had to rank NHL goalies right now, I'd have Lundqvist, Howard, Quick, and Rinne above Price. You can argue that Lundqvist and Howard play with great teams and therefore benefit from that, but Quick and Rinne play with similar teams as MTL - either pretty average, or severely underachieving, teams - but their respective teams are doing better.

The other thing working against him this year is the crop of potential UFA/RFA goalies that may come into play this summer. Rask, Schneider, Bernier, Harding, Pavelec, even Lindback - all of them are RFA could be had for a much lower offer sheet (and much lower salary) than Price would be. UFA goalies include Vokoun, Gustavsson, Hedberg, Clemmenson, Biron, Montoya, Emery. In short, there is a glut of goaltending talent coming onto the market this coming offseason. While Price would be more valuable than most of this list, teams have choices.

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 08:16:55 Someone else would have to confirm, but isn't it 5 first rounders? Hefty price for sure, but from a team either in the top 5 now (prob doesn't need Price so bad) or a team that figures he'd put them over the top and into the top 5 for the next 5 years, those picks would be in the 25-30 range of round 1. Still valuable, but not like they're 5 top 10's!

What i'm not sure of and again, someone please clarify, is if let's say it was Chicago who signed him and Mtl got Chi's next 5 first rounders, what happens if Chi makes a further deal and aquires Carolina's first rounder? Does Mtl then get that one as one of the 5 (it'd be a better pick), or is it strictly Chi's 5 that they have to accept???

slozo

Posted - 02/13/2012 : 05:19:17 Hmm. Interesting thoughts here.

I think there might be a team or two who could make an offer sheet, yeah . . . but I need to re-visit how many first rounders that means, etc.

I do count Price as my #2 goalie in the league overall (I still have Lundqvist at #1, but really, they are neck and neck at this point, can't go wrong with either)., so yes, worth it, for sure. I mean, look at the quality of the team in front of Price . . . it's not that great, and never really has been. Price had to play like an absolute mvp for them to make the playoffs last year, and he's playing awesome for them to even be making a slight run now.

But I can't see Montreal giving him up, without Price being SO disgusted and ready to leave. Which is possible, but . . . I haven't heard or seen any indication of that.